Oakley council votes to cancel election in two districts; incumbents appointed

OAKLEY — The Oakley City Council has canceled two races on the November ballot, instead choosing to appoint two incumbents after no one else qualified to challenge them for the seats.

Councilmember Aaron Meadows in District 1 and Mayor Anissa Williams representing District 3 were the only ones to make the Nov. 5 ballot, while three have in District 5.

On Wednesday, the council voted 2-1, with councilmember George Fuller voting no, to appoint Meadows and Williams, effectively re-electing them and ending those races. Meadows and Williams did not take part in the vote.

The move saves the city roughly between $28,462 and $45,540 in election costs. Those figures are based on the city’s estimated cost of between $2.50 and $4 per registered voter and the number of voters in District 1 and District 3.

Fuller said that the city ought to continue with the election, giving an opportunity for write-in candidates.

“People should also have the ability to petition for a write-in candidate, so I would vote to keep the election,” Fuller said.

According to City Clerk Libby Vreonis, the city was not contacted by anyone interested in being a write-in candidate by the close of the nomination period on Aug. 9. Under the state’s elections code, a city council can appoint a person to a seat when no candidate is nominated in an election.

Councilmember Hugh Handerson said he preferred to appoint the incumbents because it would safe the city money.

“If there had been people interested and there has been a discussion of a write-in candidate, I can see myself making that decision (to hold elections),” he said. “But I am not seeing anybody showing any interest. I can’t see spending the money running for election, so I would support appointing the two members.”

Vice Mayor Shannon Shaw said she had faced the same situation in 2022 when she was the only candidate in the District 4 council race. Shaw said she was happy when Adam Michael Gerhart, who did not qualify for the ballot, showed interest and sent in a request to be a write-in candidate. Gerhart received 206 votes, well below Shaw’s 1,784.

But she supported appointing Meadows and Williams because they are running uncontested, were already “elected at one point” and doing so would “save the city a significant amount of money.”

District 5 will see a three-way race between Fuller, teacher Cristina Pena Langley and Planning Commission chairperson Oleksii Chuiko.